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WASHINGTON'S PICKLEBALL LICENSE PLATE

Action Alert

DO YOU WANT A PICKLEBALL LICENSE PLATE ON YOUR CAR THIS YEAR?

The 2024 Washington State Legislature is now in session, and your support is needed to ensure that House and Senate legislators hear your “Yes!” before they go home in March.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

Send a short, personal message of your support for the pickleball license plate to encourage a “YES” vote on SB5333.

Step 1: Tell your legislators you want them to pass the pickleball state sport license plate bill here.

Step 2: Tell Representative Jake Fey to give the pickleball state sport license plate bill a hearing here.

Step 3: Spread the word!

It’s official! The State Sport special license plate bill has been filed.

If passed, the state sport license plate will be the first pickleball license plate in the U.S.

In March 2022, pickleball became the official state sport when Senate Bill 5615 was signed into law on Bainbridge Island. Soon after, the Seattle Metro Pickleball Association (SMPA) decided our state sport deserves a state license plate. Senator Lovick and the Seattle Metro Pickleball Association collaborated on a new bill, Senate Bill 5333, with Senator Lovick as the bill’s legislative sponsor and SMPA as the bill’s non-profit sponsor. SMPA submitted all the documents and signatures required by the Department of Licensing for this endeavor. The official signature launch began in September at Mariners Pickleball Night. With the help of volunteers and clubs throughout Washington, 3,855 signatures were obtained by December 2022.

The bill has not passed yet. It will be resubmitted for the 2024 legislative session and the SMPA needs your support. Contact your state legislators and let them know you want a pickleball license plate! Information about SB 5333, including status updates and the full text of the bill, is available on the Washington State Legislature website at leg.wa.gov. Proceeds from license plate sales will be used for the construction and maintenance of dedicated pickleball courts throughout Washington.

 

148 pages of paper petitions and over 1,200 online petition signatures exceeded the 3,500 requirement by 10%.

SMPA engaged four illustrators to create license plate designs. A poll let the public choose a favorite from eight. With over 50% of the vote, Pickleball Rising was the clear favorite. SMPA has submitted the proposed plate to the Department of Licensing for approval.

Celebrating Washington’s State Sport at the Seattle Metro Pickleball Classic tournament on July 23, 2022. From left: Frank Chiappone (SMPA President), Kate Van Gent (SMPA Director), Senator John Lovick (sponsored SB5615), Chuck Wright (proposed pickleball as the state sport), and Anna Copley (co-founder of Pickleball Central).

The winning design, Pickleball Rising, was created by Jason Laramie of Laramie Studio in Seattle. Laramie’s design was inspired by the ferry ride from Bainbridge Island, the birthplace of pickleball. The view is towards the east, where a pickleball rises like the sun over Washington State. Laramie is a Board Certified Medical Illustrator with twenty years of experience. He specializes in transforming complex information into engaging visuals for the medical field and jury trials. But he also likes to dabble in fun projects like ours and we are proud a local designed the plate. 

SMPA

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